A judge renders D.C. schools speechless

A D.C. Public Schools spokesman has “no comment” on a federal judge’s ruling that the District has failed to provide special education services to hundreds of preschool-age children. How about an apology, to start? Given a reporter’s ability to review the ruling with enough speed to publish an article on its implications in the next day’s paper, is it too much to expect DCPS to issue a statement? Couldn’t it have predicted this decision based on the District’s shameful record of services to children with special needs?

For children with developmental and learning disabilities, the cost of not receiving services at an early age is high enough that federal law requires their access to a “fair and appropriate education.” The District’s noncompliance not only harms these children and their families but adversely affects the entire system, which must struggle to accommodate these students as they continue to fall behind their peers.

That DCPS cannot be bothered to respond with a timely statement suggests it has little regard for those affected by its negligence.